REPORTS FROM THE OTHER SIDE: LIGHTING LAMENT LOSS

First off, the lineup card is updated with last night’s game. I’m finding the lineup card is essentially becoming my post game report to go with whatever spills out of Scribe’s synapses. I hope you are enjoying the feature. I imagine Bobby will update the goalie tracker sometime today, so check back.

In a game that was supposed to be a great matchup of two hot teams, the stalemate battle on the ice was overshadowed in the end by poor officiating and a game that deteriorated into penalties and cheap shots. In the third game of the roadtrip out West, the Lightning fell 1-0 against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Lightning did a tremendous job of getting sticks into passing lanes and denying the Kings entry into the offensive zone for good portions of the power play. And when Los Angeles did penetrate the zone, the Lightning penalty killers continued to get their sticks and pads in the way to disrupt any good scoring chances in limiting the Kings to two shots on goal. Including the final minute of the power play, Tampa Bay held the Kings without a shot for the final 7:13 of the opening period.

Some haranguing about Doughty on bolts2cup.com. At least this guy says the game overshadows the officiating.

With respect to the officiating, other than Doughty deserving a five minute major and possibly a ten minute misconduct for the high stick to the back of the head (instead of the minor for charging he received), the impact of the officiating is exaggerated by the emotion of the tough loss. Close games tend to magnify the little things and this game was not decided or even really impacted by the officiating. In such a tight checking defensive game, the interference appears to be abundant but the game simply played out this way and the Kings capitalized on the turnover and won a tight checking game. The poor penalties by Bergenheim and Kubina in the final minutes were far more damaging to the Lightning’s chances to tie up the game and get a point than the Doughty hit. The Lightning were unable to build and sustain late pressure because they had just killed two penalties and had less in the tank for the final minutes. The Lightning seemed to lose their composure a bit after the Doughty hit, which makes Doughty’s hit entirely too effective and the impact of the call was in the loss of composure that played into the hands of the Kings.

The first period was a tale of two Lightning teams. For the first half of the period, the Lightning was horrible and goalie Mike Smith kept them in the game. The second half was just the opposite as the Lightning had the better scoring chances and dominated the play.

The only penalty of the first period was a major one against the Lightning. Defenseman Mattias Ohlund received a five minute major penalty for boarding when he drilled Kings captain Dustin Brown into the boards face first, with 10:49 left in the period. The NHL police will certainly take a look at Ohlund’s hit. The Bolts penalty kill was amazing as they gave up only two shots during the five minute kill.

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The officiating in this game was aptly described as a “clown show” by The Bolts Beat contributor Mark Pukalo. This was a great, playoff type game that was taken over by bad officiating. Many interference calls were missed and the Lightning’s Steve Downie was almost beheaded by the Kings Drew Doughty without a call made. Once again, Downie’s reputation hurt him and the Lightning…Not fair, but real.

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As always, there is much to be gleaned from looking at the game with another’s eyes. The one blog that hit it right on the head mentioned the Lightening’s loss of composure after the crosscheck call on Doughty, as the real factor in their loss of the game. Thank you for finding those and bringing them to us.

Here is a link to a video clip of the Downie vs. Mitchell fight from FSLightening

“Later, Downie tried to return the favor, taking a run at Doughty in the corner but coming up empty. It prompted Willie Mitchell to step in and challenge Downie. The two exchanged blows, with Mitchell getting in a cheap shot as the two were being separated by the linesmen.”

Wrong. Downie took the cheap shot at Mitchell once the refs broke up the clinch, which is what I believe caused him to get kicked out.

What Downie did in retaliation, the charge with intent to injure might be more closely related to a beheading. What Mike Richards did to David Booth 2 years ago might be closer to a beheading. Seriously? Those Tampa Fans/Bloggers might want to look more closely. That was a shot to the back just above the numbers across the nameplate.

Normally I appreciate reading the opposing perspectives on the game, but you would think by reading these columns that the Kings were lucky to squeak out a victory. How about a little respect to a Kings team that probably could have won this game 4-0? The excuses made about the Lightning dealing with injuries are pathetic and have nothing to do with what really happened out there.

The Kings defensive discipline was a little better in holding the Lightning to very few scoring chances, while Smith had to stand on his head to keep Kopitar, Simmonds, Smyth, and Richardson from converting on some terrific scoring chances.

On the other hand I can only remember Lecavalier having a point blank opportunity on Quick. Most of the rest of the chances did not appear to be that great. The Lightning just happened to run into a more superior defensive squad.